Another heart to Jesus.

Who: 

My son Jiedyn, aged 7.

What:

Asked Jesus into his heart.

When:

16-12-2012

Where:

Enjoy Church (West campus)

Why:

Because he felt that he was ready.

How:

Jiedyn and I were worshiping for the first time together at Enjoy.

While in the middle of worship Jie tugged on my shirt.

"I want Jesus to live in my heart Mum" He whispered into my ear.

"Really?" I said excited.

"I'm going to ask him" He replied back to me.

We sat down and I listened as Jie asked the Lord to come and live in his heart forever.

Tears of pure love filled my eyes..

It was the most amazing feeling of Joy and happiness I have ever experienced.

A few days later I gave him this..

I now share my son with the Lord!

And he too will always have a father..

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10 little things..

Yesterday the kids and I spent the afternoon in the city. For us small town country folk, the fast paced city is all very new and unfamiliar. Apart from me getting lost looking for a Mc Donalds, the kids did 10 little things that taught me so very much about them both.

1As we went past the MCG and 'Tigerland', without any hesitation or thought, the kids just belted out the Richmond theme song. It has sort of become a tradition for our family to do that on our way home from Dad's (Pop's) regardless of how many people are in the train carriage or few.
2Nevaeh responds better to 'You must obey Mummy' or 'You must listen to Mummy' then counting down for a switch or demanding for her to do something.
3Jiedyn likes attention. I have always known this within our home but today validated it all the more when he loved people's reactions to his hoodie.
4Nevaeh greets strangers way too much. Living is a small town this is not a very big deal, but in the city - scary.
5My kids do not judge. Today we saw many people. People with missing teeth, people with disabilities, a man with piercings, three girls extremely dressed up, men in suits, girls completely tattooed, ladies in saris etc. Yes, the kids stared, took a second look and asked why but overall they accepted the diverse culture on Melbourne. Instead of finding it strange they thought it was 'cool'.
6Jie pointed out a line of Taxi's at a taxi rank. Amazed he couldn't wait to show me. Here in our town there is only ever one or two taxi's around the area at one time. The taxi wait here in Bacchus Marsh ranges anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour and a half so you can understand why my son was gob smacked at a whole lot of taxi's.
7The kids are way too trusting. Seeing a piece of plastic on the ground Nevaeh picks it up. I tell her it's yuck and to throw it away. Around 10 minutes later Jie picks up a lolly wrapper. I ask what he's doing and he tells me that he saw a bin up ahead and that he had intentions of throwing it out. It became a good lesson in the difference between the city and home.
8Here in our home we do most things as a family. We walk together as a family, we eat together, sing together, dance together, read together and we're always together. Today in the city I noticed both of my kids looking for opportunities to become individuals. Jie walked ahead and had to be reminded to walk with us. Nevaeh ran off to chase a few birds by herself. It was a rare look at them both.
9Nevaeh is watching. Everything Jie said and did today Nevaeh either had to copy him or go one further. If Jie skipped, she skipped. If Jie jumped, Nevaeh jumped. If Jie fell asleep on the bus with his neck in an awkward position, Nevaeh would have a go too. She really does look up to her big brother these days.
10Nevaeh knows where she lives. As the bus drove towards the main street today Nevaeh knew where she was. "We're home Mama" she said as she looked at her familiar town through the bus window. She was right. This is home.

Not only did I learn a lot about my children, I learnt a whole heap about how much I have changed in my 7 years as a mother. The city never used to make me nervous or frightened before I had children. Living on the streets as a teen I never felt scared, it used to feel safe and familiar. Now it's not something I could do every day. Today was nice hanging out with my children but it made me see how blessed we have it in a community of familiar faces where my kids can run ahead of me and I not need to worry. I am settled. The city is far from familiar now.

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My Boys Easter Hat..

Today, most of the schools in the area are having an Easter hat parade. 

Jie had 4 requests:

A Cross,

A Lamb,

Jesus,

& NO BUNNIES..

This is what I come up with..

He wore it proudly!

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Easter Spoils..

Bride to be.

Leaving the house yesterday I had all intentions on making my her smile.

She has been a loving and faithful friend to me for the past 11 years.

Finding what I set out to find for her for Easter, I called her and told her to meet me.

I was excited. she was excited. She dressed her kids and within minutes was on the highway.

She had no idea what I had gotten for her, but when she saw it she loved it!

Her very own Wedding Planner Album.

We have been through so much together already,

boys, broken hearts, messy nights, fun adventures, dinner dates, zumba, children, motherhood..

I can't wait to share yet another amazing milestone in my beautiful friends life.

One that will complete what she has always wanted..

A deeper, more meaningful relationship with the man she loves.

I love you Zo!

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Keto Diet Update.

From now on, every week on a Friday I am going to share my progress.

I will share my weight, weight loss, diet, struggles and joys of this Keto Journey.

If you ever want to catch up with whats happening all you have to do in scroll down to the bottom of our blog and click on "My Keto Adventure".

But for now I have awesome news!!

For full details (as it happens) follow me on MyFitnessPal..

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Karate Update.

Just thought I would update how Jie is going at Karate.

Today (Technically yesterday) Jie wore his 'whites' to his second session.

It was an absolute blessing to have a friend give Jie his first Karate Suit and white belt.

 He was so excited wearing it so proudly before, during and after his training today.

I snapped up a few shots today while watching him train. 

I hope you enjoy them..

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Earth Hour 2013

We enjoy celebrating Earth Hour every year.

Check out our photos from last year last year.

This year we had a late dinner in the dark together.

Then Jiedyn came up with the idea of drawing by candle light.

It was fun guessing the colors, sharing and creating forest scenes.

Jie drew a treeless forest with men cutting down a family of squirrels homes.

Nevaeh had me draw two trees and she mostly colored in and stuck on her stickers.

At one point while coloring in my river, I thought I was using green. Made us all laugh and laugh.

We counted down to the second for the kids to blow the candles out.

Then we got to see our forest's creations in the light!

It was the bestest earth hour's we've had so far.

Loads of family fun for an hour!!

Dinner in the dark..

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New to Keto! [Ketogenic dieting]

Check out my fridge! Last week after shopping my fridge was full of all kinds of nasties. This week, it's greener. I mean, possibly the greenest its ever been!

After finding out April last year that I had PCOS {See this post} I made it my mission to start losing weight. Without losing weight I'd increase my chances of developing:

Insulin resistance and diabetes
If your blood glucose does not stay normal, this can lead to diabetes. One or two in every ten (10–20%) women with PCOS go on to develop diabetes at some time. Untreated, this causes damage to organs in the body. If you have PCOS, your risk of developing diabetes is increased further if you:
● are over 40 years of age
● have relatives with diabetes
● developed diabetes during a pregnancy (known as gestational diabetes)
 ● are obese (body mass index or BMI over 30). If you are diagnosed with diabetes, you will be given dietary advice and may be prescribed tablets or insulin injections.

High blood pressure
Women with PCOS tend to have high blood pressure, which is likely to be related to insulin resistance and to being overweight, rather than the PCOS itself. High blood pressure can lead to heart problems and should be treated.

Heart disease in later life
Developing heart disease is linked to health conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. If you do not have these conditions, there is no clear evidence that, just because you have PCOS, you are more likely to die from heart disease than women who do not have PCOS. If you have a high cholesterol level you may be advised to take medication (statins) to reduce the risk of heart problems. If you are trying for a baby, you should seek specialist advice about the use of statins.

Cancer
With fewer periods (less than three a year), the endometrium (lining of the womb) can thicken and this may lead to endometrial cancer in a small number of women. There are different ways to protect the lining of the womb using the hormone progestogen. Your doctor will discuss the options with you. This may include a five-day course of progestogen tablets used every three or four months, taking a contraceptive pill or using the intrauterine contraceptive system (Mirena®). The options will depend on whether you are trying for a baby. PCOS does not increase your chance of breast, cervical or ovarian cancer.

Depression and mood swings
The symptoms of PCOS may affect how you see yourself and how you think others see you. It can lower your self-esteem.

Snoring and daytime drowsiness
 PCOS can lead to fatigue or sleepiness during the day. It is also associated with snoring.

Some of these things have really scared me enough to want and need change. But in almost a year I have only lost 6 kilos. While it excites me that I am in fact losing, it scares me at the same time because I don't feel fit nor healthier.

A friend showed me {this video} yesterday and I researched myself how thousands of people are losing weight with the keto diet. I was completely WOWed and researched it more and the more I read, the more excited I was getting. I was further encouraged when a man replied to my tweet telling me how he had lost 19lbs (8kgs) in just one week! Completely blew me away!!

So here is my Keto diet plan:

For a better look, just click the picture.

I am both excited and nervous about starting this journey. I will be using mainly twitter and my blog to keep everyone updated regularly so if your not already following my tweets please fly this way..

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First Anniversary Paper Gift Ideas

Tickets - Any tickets, anything you can do together.

Magazine Subscription - A magazine he/she likes a lot.

A Brochure - Of a place, cruise or restaurant your planning to take them.

A Love Note - Something written from your heart to theirs.

Newspaper Feature - Half a page or a whole page is quite cute. 

Money - Paper money?

A Puzzle - Of a photo of the two of you. 

A scroll - With a message or poem.

Photo book - You can make them online and have them delivered to him/her.

A scrap book - Something you have put a lot of effort in.

A Movie - First class.

A Paining - Of you or done by you.

Paper Flowers - So pretty.

Lunch - Packed in paper or eaten out of a paper. 

Package - Of all their favorite things.

A piece of Music - Blown up and framed.

Calender - Personalized with photos of the two of you for each month.

Book - An old favorite or a new book.

Coasters - Something you both can live with.

Stationary - Personalized notebook with family name or initials.

Map - Marked with places been and seen together or for planning future trips.

Message in a bottle - Sweet messages are always a winner.

Because Matt and I have struggled through our first year of marriage I chose to buy Journals. 

One for each of us.

What I'd like us to do is to write all of our thoughts and inner feelings in them.

Then, when Matthew picks up Nevaeh every second Friday we swap.

He gets my thoughts and I get his.

These are only ours. 

Hopefully this will strengthen our marriage.

That one day, we can open these books to see where we used to be.

And know that we fought to keep our marriage together.

I hope you too find the perfect gift for your lover <3
Have a wonderful 1st!

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Our Karate Kid

I'm pleased to announce that Jiedyn is now enrolled into Karate.

[I'd just like to give a special thanks to Child and Family Services Bacchus Marsh for providing him with a lifetime membership!] 

Yesterday morning was his first class.

He enjoyed every moment and received a certificate at the end of the lesson.

Sensei Aaron has so much patience and time for his students.

I could see that Jie already looks up to him a lot.

This is the beginning of a lifetime of  learning self discipline, self confidence and respect.

I can't wait to watch Jie as he progresses through this new adventure.

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1st Wedding Anniversary

On the 18th of March 2012 Matthew and I wedded in front of our dear friends and family.

It was the most exciting experience of my life.

We we're together for 6 months and have been now separated for 6 months.

People told me before we got married that the first year is always the hardest.

As most of us tend to do, I ignored the statement and thought I had it all figured out.

The first few months of the seperation I was angry.

I was angry that the people who stood by us then were now telling us to move on.

God kept showing me this verse.

1 Corinthians 7:10

To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.

I battled with this verse as I copped abuse from my husband daily.

I questioned God constantly of what I should do.

The answer kept coming back to the verse above.

As days turned to weeks

and weeks turned to months

I put more and more trust in God and his will for our lives.

My heart changed and I become weaker.

Because I knew that God chose him for me, for us.

He is not perfect, but he is perfect for me.

I began to see my own flaws instead of focusing on his.

I realized how much I took him for granted.

I saw my part in our marriage and started seeing the things I'd want to change to have him home.

Last week I apologized for everything hurtful I said to him.

He accepted it but has not yet said sorry in return.

I'm kind of used to waiting so wait and pray I shall.

God is answering my prayers.

For the last six months we couldn't even finish a phone conversation.

A week ago Matt spoke to a lawyer about a divorce.

Monday is our anniversary.

We're going out for dinner to a local restaurant.

It will be our first time alone together since the split.

I'm praying with all my might that God will reign all over our marriage in two nights time.

I'm praying for a mirical that Matt will walk us home..

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Our Family Holiday 2013

Day 1

• Drove to Bairnsdale for supplies
• Stopped in at Lakes Entrance for Bait
• Arrived at Pettmans Beach just after 2pm
• Jie helped me set up the tent by hammering in the pegs
• Nevaeh Jie and I all took turns pumping up the air bed mattress
• The Kids helped Pop bait the rods

• Nevaeh caught her first fish by putting the rod between her legs and reeling it in as fast as she could
• Nevaeh caught a baby brim at Trident Arm
• The kept busy finding shells 
• Jie caught 2 more baby brim before dinner

•  The sunset was extraordinary and definately a highlight of the trip
• Jie drove the car back to camp
• Nevaeh sat in my lap in the front seat as Jie drove
• Dinner was canned spaghetti as Dad and I couldn't work out the gas stove
• I read from Jie's bible before the kids called it a night

Day 2

• Wheetbix for Breakfast before jumping in the car
• Jie and I spied a beautiful black wallaby in the bush
• We drove past the legendary Snowy River
• We drove to Mallacoota 
• The beach was spectacular but unfortunately I left my camera in the car
• Nevaeh chased baby fish in the sandy rock pools
• Jiedyn and Pop went for a walk up the beach and found stunning shells, a baby crab and a few sea snails
• Nevaeh and I swam in the shallows and built sand castles
• We then drove to Gypsie Point eating icy poles the whole way

• We returned back to camp
• Worked out how to use the portable stove and cooked up snags for dinner
• We then went surf fishing at the beach
• Within minutes of casting in we caught beautiful sized salmon
• Nevaeh caught herself a salmon too
• Pop caught four salmon
• I caught 2 salmon and 2 crabs (which seemed to be Dad's highlight of the trip)
• We got back to camp after dark, had some munchies and went to bed.

 3rd and final day..

• Pop had already packed most of the camp up before we got up
• Back in the car we drove out to Lake tires then to the lovely Lakes Entrance

• We also drove out to Metung
• Drove alongside the Tambo River
• Got fish and chips in Painsville 
• Caught the kids first ferry over to Raymond Island 
• Spotted 3 koalas in gum trees on the way to a remote beach/jetty
• Ate fish and chips on the bonnet of the car before having a swim
• I even did handstands in the water
• We got home after 8pm, I showered the kids and put them to bed
• Dad and I stayed up watching The Hunger Games and Abduction

I never actually got time to relax, but if I got anything out of this trip, it was that the beauty of this God created country is absolutely and completely stupendous!  

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